Beijing (VNA) - China-ASEAN trade reached 4.34 trillion CNY (approximately 643.2 billion USD) in the first half of 2026, up 18.2% year on year, reported the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).
Trade in intermediate goods, including parts, components and production inputs, rose 24.5% to 2.86 trillion CNY during the period, accounting for around two-thirds of total bilateral trade.
GACC Spokesperson Lyu Daliang attributed the steady growth in intermediate goods trade to the increasingly deep integration and connectivity between Chinese and ASEAN industrial and value chains.
Meanwhile, the latest data from Nanning Customs showed that trade between China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and ASEAN reached 248.21 billion CNY in the first seven months of 2026, up 2.5% year on year and setting a new record for the period. Notably, trade with Vietnam rose 3.3% to 183.71 billion CNY.
According to Chinese media, freight trains linking Guangxi with Vietnam now operate daily, up from the previous three services a week, carrying electronics and machinery southward while transporting tropical fruits such as durians and mangosteens northward.
Another framework supporting regional trade is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 15-member trade agreement comprising China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 ASEAN countries. The pact, which took effect in January 2022, has been fully implemented by all 15 signatories since June 2023. Under its rules of origin, materials originating in one member country and used in production in another member country are considered originating materials of the latter.
Xu Yingming, head of the Institute of International Market Research under China’s Ministry of Commerce, said RCEP and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area have reduced transaction costs and facilitated closer integration of regional industrial chains.
An expanding China-ASEAN transport network has supported the smooth movement of resources and driven a boom in trade. The China-Laos Railway, which began operations in December 2021 and connects Kunming in southwest China with Laos’ capital Vientiane, recorded 17.17 billion CNY in import-export cargo value in the first half of 2026, up 33.8% year on year. During the period, imports of tropical fruits such as durians, mangosteens and longans rose 25.8% to 4.22 billion CNY.
The railway now transports more than 3,900 types of goods, with freight services reaching markets in 19 countries and territories./.
VNA
